Redskins 28, Cowboys 18 – final

LANDOVER, Md. – Five months ago, tight end Jason Witten stepped off a jet on a picture-perfect Southern California day to declare with a steely looking in his eyes that this season “can’t be the same old story” for the Dallas Cowboys.

Sadly for Witten and his teammates, it was.

Taking advantage of three Tony Romo interceptions, including a possible career-defining one with three minutes left, the Washington Redskins downed the Cowboys 28-18 on Sunday night to advance to eliminate their longtime rivals and advance to the playoffs as NFC champs.

This is the third straight year Dallas (8-8) has missed the postseason, its longest dry spell since Dave Campo coached the team from 2000 through 2002. In winning their first division title in 13 years, the Redskins (10-6) won their final seven in a row, sweeping the Cowboys in the process for the first time since 2005.

The loss also marked Dallas’ third playoffs-or-bust loss in a regular-season finale in five years. Last season, Dallas got blown out by the New York Giants to also finish at .500.

With his team nursing a 21-18 lead, Redskins linebacker Rob Jackson made a diving interception of an ill-advised Romo pass intended for Kevin Ogletree in the flats. Pressured by 37-year-old Washington linebacker London Fletcher, Romo threw off his back foot, hanging the ball just enough for Jackson to make the grab.

Romo hung his head after the mistake and walked slowly off the field. After sitting down on the bench, he stared at the ground while rubbing his hand over his face and spitting repeatedly.

Dallas entered the game with a 3-1 December record thanks largely to Romo’s outstanding play, which included throwing 10 TD passes and one interception. But instead of shining in what was arguably the biggest game of his career, he threw two interceptions in the first quarter and never seemed to find his footing against a defense that blitzed him heavily and sacked him twice.

Romo is 1-5 in elimination games. Since 2000, Dallas is 2-10 in season finales, including 1-5 with Romo running the huddle.

“Well, he played really well a lot in a lot of big games in his career,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said of Romo, who was 20 of 37 for 218 yards with two TDs. “And there were a couple of critical games toward the end of this year and we didn’t get it done as a football team and Tony is certainly a part of that.

“We just have to try to get better. We have to try to get ourselves in this position again.”

The Redskins’ ground-oriented game plan stood in sharp contrasted to their bombs-away approach in beating Dallas’ 38-31 on Thanksgiving behind rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III passing for 311 yards and four TDs.

This time around, Griffin was 9 of 18 for 100 yards, although he did shake off a lingering knee injury to rush for 63 yards and a TD on six attempts.

“It’s awesome,” Griffin said of Morris’ big game. “If teams are going to try to take me away, he makes them pay every time without a doubt.”

A sixth-round pick, Morris finished the season with a Redskins’ record 1,613 yards.

“They brought a lot of pressure that they disguised and their over-aggressiveness worked against them,” Morris said. “They overpursued and I used a lot of cutbacks. It worked out perfectly.”

Washington took a 21-10 lead with 10:32 left on Morris’ 32-yard jaunt, but the Cowboys got a spark with about six minutes left when Dwayne Harris returned a punt 39 yards and drew a 15-yard facemask penalty against Redskins’ punter Sav Rocca.

Three plays later, Dallas pulled within 21-18 on a 10-yard pass from Romo to Kevin Ogletree and a two-point conversion pass from Romo to Harris.

Dallas played without six key defenders, all on injured reserve. Several other players were injured during the game, including wide receivers Miles Austin (leg) and Dez Bryant (back).

torsborn@express-news.net

Redskins 28, Cowboys 18 – final

The Washington Redskins rode a big rushing night from rookie Alfred Morris and played turnover-free to beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-18 and clinch the NFC East title.

The loss ended the season for the Cowboys, who turned the ball over three times on Tony Romo interceptions.

The Redskins locked this one up with a touchdown and a 10-point lead with 1:15 left in the game. Morris scored on a 1-yard run. He finished with an even 200 yards and three touchdowns rushing.

Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III completed 9 of 19 passes for 100 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Romo completed 20 of 37 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns along with the three interceptions. Romo led the Cowboys to two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, resulting in a field goal and a touchdown.

Fourth quarter

The Dallas defense put some heat on Griffin and got a stop to stay alive late. The Cowboys got the ball back with 3:35 left and trailing by a field goal. But on the first down, Romo threw his third interception of the game. The Redskins turned that into their final touchdown six plays later.

The Cowboys got one step closer to another late comeback with a touchdown and two-point conversion to pull within a field goal. The Cowboys took advantage of a good punt return that got them to the Washington 16. Romo threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Ogletree with 5:55 left in the game. Romo completed the conversion pass to Dwayne Harris.

The Redskins put together a 74-yard scoring drive to put the Cowboys deeper in a hole. Morris continued to chew up the Dallas defense and was up to 172 yards. Morris scored on a 32-yard run with 10:41 left in the game to put the Redskins in front 21-10.

The Cowboys cut into the Redskins’ lead early in the fourth quarter. Dan Bailey kicked a 48-yard field goal to make it 14-10.

– updated by Joe Alexander

Redskins hold 14-7 lead over the Cowboys entering fourth

LANDOVER, Md. – The Redskins hold a 14-7 lead over the Cowboys entering the fourth quarter after Robert Griffin III’s 10-yard touchdown run around left end with 3:10 left in the third.

Griffin’s run capped a nine-play, 82-yard drive that lasted 5:14.

Aldred Morris had runs of 10, 5, 6 and 22 yards on drive to give him 141 yards on 21 carries.

LANDOVER, Md. – The Redskins hold a 14-7 lead over the Cowboys entering the fourth quarter after Robert Griffin III’s 10-yard touchdown run around left end with 3:10 left in the third.

Griffin’s run capped a nine-play, 82-yard drive that lasted 5:14.

Aldred Morris had runs of 10, 5, 6 and 22 yards on drive to give him 141 yards on 21 carries.

LANDOVER, Md. – The Cowboys and Redskins fought to a 7-7 tie in the first half of Sunday night’s de facto NFL East championship game.

The winner will open the playoffs at home against Seattle at 3:30 p.m. next Sunday, the NFL announced.

The Cowboys grabbed a 7-0 lead on Tony Romo’s 9-yard pass to Jason Witten, capping an 89-yard, 13-play drive that lasted 7:37. Romo scrambled for 8 seconds while waiting for Witten to get open in the end zone.

The Redskins answered with an eight-play, 68-yard drive capped by Alfred Morris’ 17-yard TD run around left end. Morris had four runs for 45 yards during the series, including back-to-back runs of 13 and 12 yards.

Romo is 10 of 16 for 119 yards with one TD and two interception. The Redskins’ Robert Griffin III is 5 of 11 for 43 yards without a turnover. Griffin also has 21 yards on three carries.

LANDOVER, Md. – Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw two interceptions in the first quarter, but the Redskins failed to capitalize in a scoreless first quarter.

Rookie cornerback Richard Crawford came up with the first pick as Romo tried to hit Kevin Olgetree over the middle. The Redskins’ Kai Forbath missed a 37-yard field goal try after going 17-17 in the season’s first 15 games.

The interceptions were only Romo’s second and third of December. He has 10 touchdown passes in the month.